Bazaarvoice
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Investors
Founders
About
Bazaarvoice is a SaaS platform that enables brands and retailers to collect and display user-generated content such as product ratings, reviews, and Q&A on e-commerce sites 1. The company was co-founded in May 2005 by Brett Hurt and Brant Barton in Austin, Texas 2. Hurt, a former Dell executive, built the company around the insight that online word-of-mouth drives consumer purchasing decisions 2. Major early clients included Best Buy, Costco, Dell, Macy’s, and Procter & Gamble 1.
Bazaarvoice went public on the NASDAQ (ticker: BV) on February 23, 2012, offering 9.5 million shares at $12 per share and raising $114 million 2. The stock opened at $16 on its first day, a 33% gain 2.
On February 1, 2018, Marlin Equity Partners completed a take-private acquisition of Bazaarvoice at $5.50 per share in cash 3. In March 2021, Thomas H. Lee Partners made a majority investment at a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion 2.
Funding History
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead | Co-investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series A | May 2006 | $4M | Austin Ventures | First Round Capital 4 |
| Series B | Sep 2007 | $8.8M | Battery Ventures | Austin Ventures, First Round Capital 5 |
| Series C | 2008-06-18 | $7.1M | Austin Ventures, Battery Ventures | First Round Capital 46 |
| IPO | 2012-02-23 | $114M | Morgan Stanley | Deutsche Bank Securities, Credit Suisse 27 |
| Follow-On Offering | 2012-07-17 | $130.9M | Morgan Stanley | Deutsche Bank Securities, Credit Suisse 8 |
| Post-IPO Equity | Nov 2012 | $6.7M | — | — 4 |
| Take-Private | 2018-02-01 | ~$521M | Marlin Equity Partners | — 3 |
Bazaarvoice priced its IPO on February 23, 2012 at $12 per share (9,484,296 shares), above the proposed $8-$10 range; shares opened at $16 on February 24, 2012 on NASDAQ under ticker BV 27. The July 2012 follow-on offering priced 8,500,000 shares at $15.40 — 2,350,000 new shares from the company and 6,150,000 shares from selling stockholders — for gross proceeds of approximately $130.9M (of which approximately $36.2M went to Bazaarvoice) 8. Crunchbase records this round as “Post-IPO Equity” with a June 25, 2012 date corresponding to the prospectus filing 4.
What Investors Say
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What Founders Say
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Sources
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TechCrunch, “Customer Reviews And Social Commerce Platform Bazaarvoice Files For $86M IPO,” August 26, 2011. https://techcrunch.com/2011/08/26/customer-reviews-and-social-commerce-platform-bazaarvoice-files-for-86m-ipo/↩↩↩
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Grokipedia, “Bazaarvoice,” accessed March 2026. https://grokipedia.com/page/Bazaarvoice↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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GlobeNewsWire, “Marlin Equity Partners Completes Take-Private Acquisition of Bazaarvoice,” February 1, 2018. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/02/01/1330099/0/en/Marlin-Equity-Partners-Completes-Take-Private-Acquisition-of-Bazaarvoice.html↩↩↩
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Clay, “How Much Did Bazaarvoice Raise? Funding & Key Investors,” accessed March 2026. https://www.clay.com/dossier/bazaarvoice-funding↩↩↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Bazaarvoice Closes $8.8 Million Series B,” September 9, 2007. https://techcrunch.com/2007/09/09/bazaarvoice-closes-88-million-series-b/↩↩
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PE Hub, “Bazaarvoice Raises $7.1 Million,” June 20, 2008. https://www.pehub.com/2008/06/bazaarvoice-raises-71-million/↩↩
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GlobeNewswire, “Bazaarvoice, Inc. Prices Initial Public Offering,” February 24, 2012. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2012/02/24/468969/19098/en/Bazaarvoice-Inc-Prices-Initial-Public-Offering.html↩↩↩
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GlobeNewswire, “Bazaarvoice, Inc. Announces Pricing of Its Follow-On Offering,” July 18, 2012. http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2012/07/18/273756/262522/en/Bazaarvoice-Inc-Announces-Pricing-of-Its-Follow-On-Offering.html↩↩↩